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Tuesday, Sep 19, 2017 07:30 AM

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Oakland Raiders Head East For Primetime Matchup Against Washington Redskins

The Oakland Raiders will embark on a stretch of back-to-back road games this week, starting with a prime-time matchup against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 5:30 p.m. PT. Sunday’s contest marks the first prime-time game of the year for the Silver and Black, with four more scheduled on the slate. It will also be the first meeting between the two teams since 2013, and the first of four games the Raiders will play this season against NFC East opponents.

Here is the Game Preview, presented by 95.7 The Game.

THE SETTING

Last Sunday, the Raiders beat the Jets in the their home opener, 45-20. WR Derek Carr led the way for the Raiders, hauling in three touchdown passes from QB Derek Carr. It marked the second time in his career that Crabtree, who led all receivers with six receptions for 80 yards, had caught three touchdowns in a game. Carr finished the game with a 136.6 quarterback rating (the third highest of his career), throwing for 230 yards on 23-of-28 passing (82.1 percent). The rushing attack racked up 180 yards on the ground, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. RB Jalen Richard and WR Cordarrelle Patterson each scored on long runs, 52 and 43 yards, respectively, and RB Marshawn Lynch, playing in his first regular season game with the Raiders in his hometown, added his first touchdown of the season. The defense was stout throughout, limiting the Jets to 271 yards of total offense and forcing a turnover. The unit posted four sacks on the afternoon, with DE Mario Edwards Jr. (1.5), DE Khalil Mack (one), S Karl Joseph (one) and DL Denico Autry (0.5) all recording sacks. For Joseph, it marked his first career sack, as he also forced and recovered the fumble, setting up a Raiders touchdown. S Reggie Nelson paced the team with eight tackles and first-round pick CB Gareon Conley made his NFL debut, adding three tackles and one pass defensed.

Next week, the Raiders will face their first divisional opponent of the year as they travel to Denver to take on the Broncos. The Redskins will also play an AFC West team, traveling to Kansas City to play the Chiefs on Monday Night Football.

MICHAEL CRABTREE

In last week’s 45-20 victory over the New York Jets, WR Michael Crabtree finished with six receptions for 80 yards (13.3 avg.) and tied a career high with three touchdowns. Here are a couple notes on Crabtree after Sunday’s performance:

• Crabtree led all receivers in the contest with six receptions for 80 yards, and his three touchdowns led all NFL receivers this week. He also leads the NFL this year in touchdown receptions.

• Crabtree’s third touchdown of the day marked his second career game with three receiving touchdowns. He first accomplished the feat on Oct. 2, 2016 against at the Baltimore Ravens.

• Crabtree has now recorded 20 touchdowns since he joined the Raiders in 2015, which is tied for fourth most in the NFL over that span.

• Crabtree’s 163 receiving yards this season are tied for sixth in the league.

Overview: In his fourth season at the helm of the Washington Redskins, Head Coach Jay Gruden leads his team into Week 3 of the regular season with a record of 1-1. Washington earned its first victory of the season last week, defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 27-20, scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the last two minutes of regulation. The Redskins host the Raiders for what will be their first of four contests in 2017 against AFC West teams.

Offense: The 2017 offense is led by sixth-year veteran QB Kirk Cousins, who has thrown for 419 yards on 41-of-67 passing with two touchdowns and one interception through two games. WR Terrelle Pryor Sr. and TE Jordan Reed have been Cousins’ top targets so far this season, leading the team in yards (97) and receptions (11), respectively. Pacing the run game is RB Chris Thompson, who has also been effective in the passing game. Thompson has recorded 81 rushing yards on six carries (13.5 avg.), while adding 81 receiving yards on seven receptions

Defense: Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky is in his first season in charge of the Redskins defense after serving as the outside linebackers coach last season. The Redskins’ defense is led by LB Zach Brown, who ranks third in the league with 22 tackles entering Week 3. Third-year LB Preston Smith holds a teamhigh two sacks, while LB Ryan Kerrigan is close behind with 1.5. Kerrigan has also recorded one of Washington’s two interceptions this season, returning it 24 yards for a touchdown.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Pro Connections</span>

• Redskins Team President Bruce Allen’s first NFL job was with the Raiders, serving as a senior executive from 1996-2003. In 2002, Allen was named the George Young Executive of the Year.

• Redskins Assistant Head Coach/offensive line coach Bill Callahan spent six seasons with the Raiders from 1998-2003. He served as the offensive coordinator for four years before becoming the 13th head coach in Raider history from 2002-03. In 2002, he became the fourth rookie head coach in NFL history to earn a Super Bowl berth.

• Redskins running backs coach Randy Jordan began his playing career with the Raiders in 1993 and later rejoined Oakland for five more seasons from 1998-2002. He was the recipient of the NFL Unsung Hero Award and the Ed Block Courage Award in 2001 and served as special teams captain for the Raiders’ AFC Championship team in 2002. Jordan later began his coaching career with the Raiders as a special teams assistant midway through the 2003 season.

• Redskins offensive line coach Mike Tice (tight end) played the 1989 season in Washington, appearing in all 16 games for the Redskins.

• Redskins CB David Amerson was originally selected by Washington in the second round (51st overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft, appearing in 33 games with 23 starts from 2013-15.

• Redskins DL Stacy McGee was originally selected by the Raiders in the sixth round (205th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. McGee spent four seasons in Oakland, playing in 51 games and totaling 63 tackles (44 solo), three sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

• Redskins WR Terrelle Pryor Sr. was originally selected by the Raiders in the third round of the 2011 Supplemental Draft. He spent three years with the Raiders from 2011-13 as a quarterback, completing 175-of-311 passes for 1,994 yards with nine touchdowns.

• Raiders TE Jared Cook and Redskins LB Zach Brown were both originally drafted by the Tennessee Titans and spent the 2012 season going against each other in practice. Cook also played with Redskins WR Brian Quick with the St. Louis Rams from 2013-15.

• Raiders WR Michael Crabtree and Redskins TE Vernon Davis were both first-round draft picks by the San Francisco 49ers and spent six seasons (2009-14) together in San Francisco.

• Redskins Director of Football Operations Paul Kelly spent six seasons with the Raiders from 1998-2003 as an assistant on the coaching staff.

College Connections

• Raiders offensive line coach Mike Tice played collegiately at Maryland from 1977-80 as a quarterback, starting two seasons.

• Redskins LS Nick Sundberg played in 52 consecutive games as the long snapper at California and snapped for Raiders K Giorgio Tavecchio in 2008.

• Raiders DT Eddie Vanderdoes and Redskins CB Fabian Moreau were both selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft after playing on the same defense at UCLA from 2013-16.

Hometown Connections

• Raiders LB Marquel Lee is a native of Waldorf, Md., where he attended Westlake High School and was named first-team All-Southern Maryland Athletic Conference.

• Redskins LB Mason Foster attended Seaside (Calif.) High School, where he played linebacker and quarterback and was named the Monterey County Player of the Year and All-Central Coast Section first-team linebacker.